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December 1, 2008
Brutally weird: Why a vacant lot in Alphabet City is (not) like the land under Yankee Stadium
Atlantic Yards Report
Follow Norman Oder on a tour of Manhattan's Lower East Side, as he tries to make sense of New York City's citation of a vacant lot in that neighborhood in setting the value of the land under the new Yankee Stadium in the Bronx.
But wait, let’s return to that vacant lot. That vacant lot is what the New York City Department of Finance (DOF) says should be compared to the South Bronx site hosting the new Yankee Stadium. That vacant lot is 4324 square feet, just a little less than one-tenth of an acre, while Yankee Stadium, at least when the city first assessed the site, was more than 17 acres, more than 170 times larger.
Not only is that vacant lot not comparable in size, it is not comparable in location. That vacant lot, according to MapQuest (below), is 8.71 miles away by driving; that route is slightly indirect, but the distance easily exceeds seven miles.
A DOF "comparable"
Yet that vacant lot was included in a list of “comparables” chosen by the DOF in an effort to value the land under the new stadium. That, critics on state and federal oversight committees say, was used to inflate the value of the property and allow more tax-exempt bonds to be issued, aiding the Yankees.
And, should tax-exempt bonds be issued for the Atlantic Yards arena, the comparables chosen by the DOF will deserve a close look.
Posted by eric at December 1, 2008 6:14 AM